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November 30, 2021

5 Reasons That Career Exploration Must Begin in Middle School

In a report called ‘Career Readiness for All’, questions about the relationship between American education and work were raised. The report shows that most students leave high school without a clear idea about their future, and eventually struggle to find meaningful work. Even those who pursue a college degree often face a skills gap with what employers in their fields want to hire.

The study highlights the need to prioritize career planning as early as middle school, so students can better align their education with their careers. A major step of career planning is career exploration with Apprentice Learning, a non-profit that supports career exploration for Boston Public school middle school students. Apprentice Learning staffs guide students through the process of researching, evaluating, and learning about work opportunities. By understanding their job options, Apprentice Learning helps middle school students imagine themselves in jobs that suit them and prepare ahead. Here are five reasons why career exploration must begin in middle school:

Improves their knowledge of career options

We usually ask young children what they want to be when they grow up. Common answers include doctor, teacher, astronaut, and firefighter, but what about other jobs essential to our economy, like research, web developer, programmer, or accountant? Realistically, most people don’t get exposure to these career options (and the working world at large) until they’re in their 20s. By then, they would have already gotten through high school and grappled with the question of what to do next. Through career exploration, middle school students can become more aware of these jobs and find something that truly suits them. This is the aim at Apprentice Learning. Their programs hope to inform eight graders about different career opportunities through two-hour workplace sessions over the course of six weeks. Students get to meet passionate adults in various career fields, and hone their professional skills along the way.

Provides middle schoolers a path to pursue

According to an article from NBC Boston, roughly 40% of juniors and seniors in Boston Public Schools — around 2900 students — were chronically absent last fall, registering a post-pandemic increase of 500 additional students missing class. To combat increasing drop-outs, career exploration during middle school can help motivate students to graduate high school and pursue higher education. Once young students identify the relevance of the core curriculum for their future careers, they can be inspired to stay engaged with schooling and even strive for academic success. The year-round Workplace Exploration program offers students a chance to visit businesses and meaningfully engage with employees. From there, Apprentice Learning hopes to ignite young students’ sense of purpose and broaden their sense of belonging in the community, which are essential to keeping them on-track.

Motivates students towards growth

The transition from elementary school to middle school creates a near-universal increase in anxiety, stress, and discomfort. A University of Wisconsin-Madison’s study on middle school transition notes that students face increased self-awareness and heightened sensitivity towards social acceptance as they move up. Likewise, Maryville University’s human development and family studies curriculum points out that shifting societal trends also affect young teens through complex, far-reaching issues like poverty, discrimination, and harassment — which may lead to psychological issues or stunted development. Career exploration with Apprentice Learning at this age can encourage students to be more confident, learn self-reliance, and feel more independent, especially as they venture beyond the orbit of their parents. Having a dream career in mind can also give them a sense of clarity while they mature.

Gives them time to prepare for a career

Career exploration gives young students more time to understand the working world, so they can prepare for success. Once they discover their potential career, they can set realistic goals and work towards that job. They may be more open to talking to guidance counselors or people working in the field. They may even opt to sign-up for specific high school classes, join clubs, or take advantage of other relevant opportunities for training and hands-on experience. The 2022 Apprenticeship program, for instance, will begin with in-school preparatory classes followed by an on-site apprenticeship with adult mentors. Through these sessions, students can gauge their strengths, build a toolkit of communication techniques, and even create their first resume. This know-how can continue to inform students throughout their lives, especially when they begin applying for work.

Helps them develop transferable skills

Middle school students are curious, creative, and braver with learning, so they’re at an age when they’re more willing to try new things. Early career exploration would shift a student’s basic knowledge to skills application. In an internship or an apprenticeship, they can improve their talents in writing, photo editing, or working with spreadsheets. They would also gain a new understanding of important competencies like communication, collaboration, problem solving, and project management.

In the blog post on Closing Gaps, it mentions how even online programs can guide eighth-graders in learning important career skills. These virtual capabilities further student development, especially during the gap period before high school. To learn more about Apprentice Learning, sign-up as a volunteer, or donate to our cause, contact Apprentice Learning today.

Article written by Robbie Jordyn
November 29, 2021

For the exclusive use of apprenticelearning.org

February 4, 2021

Closing Gaps

We are facing a terrible crisis in education due to the pandemic, and in the midst this, new opportunities can emerge.

While our eighth graders long for a return to in-person school and apprenticeships, recent data shows they are learning important career skills in our online programs (see our charts below). And new virtual capabilities offer us ways to continue to support our alumni to build their career skills even as they attend over 30 different Boston high schools.

Thanks to funding from partners, Youthworks and the Boston Private Industry Council, we are launching a new paid internship program for 40 ninth grade Apprentice alums. The program, LaunchPlus, will offer 40 hours over 10 weeks of virtual career skills, careers exploration, and weekly small group meetings with our staff. Youth will earn $700 for completing weekly “deliverables” and the program will culminate in youth completing an online job application for the City of Boston’s Success Link summer job program. Our goal: have all students capable and ready for a virtual summer job.

With few career programs and job opportunities for this age group, LaunchPlus extends our reach and fills a critical gap during the transition to high school–already a difficult period for young people.

Our program services now span grade seven to grade nine and we are growing a career pipeline to nurture a talented, diverse future workforce in Boston.

We are so grateful for the support all of our partners, individuals, and foundations have provided to help us reach more young people.

August 12, 2020

Having Open Conversations: Operationalizing Equity and Opportunity with Our Worksite Partners

After reflecting on the murders of Black and Brown people at the hands of the police, we realized that we could play a bigger role in combatting racial injustice by having open conversations with businesses in Boston around operationalizing equity and opportunity. Our work is rooted in a desire to build a workforce that is welcoming to young people from across Boston especially those who attend its public schools.

Dismantling exclusive networks and rebuilding inclusive, culturally competent networks requires that each of us re-evaluates the role we play in perpetuating injustice, even if it is seemingly innocuous. We must work intentionally to create organizational cultures that support individuals from a range of backgrounds. Our worksite partners are our allies in this mission — here are four strategies we shared with them for operationalizing equity, when working with our City Summer Interns. We are sharing them here in the hope that they are helpful for other businesses and programs involved in similar workforce development initiatives.

Acknowledge that First Impressions Matter.

When you are introduced to our interns, what are the messages you want to send? All of our City Summer Interns identify as female and are Black/African-diasporic, Latina, or Multi-ethnic.

Will any of the employees who interact with them be of the same ethnic or cultural background? Did any of your employees attend Boston Public Schools or grow up in a Boston neighborhood? It helps to make these connections. If not, it’s good to acknowledge the proverbial elephant in the room, because our collective silence can do unintended damage.

We discuss first impressions in our skills seminars because we know that our interns notice the race and background of the professionals they meet—and addressing it openly is the best approach. Apprentice Learning staff can help moderate these discussions. For example, “From first impressions, it appears we represent different racial backgrounds. During our time together, we hope to be able to learn more about one another and discover more about our individual experiences as well as qualities that we may have in common.”

Learn from One Another: Authentic Connection.

It’s clear what the interns hope to learn from you, but what do you hope to learn from them? We want to offer an exchange that’s a two-way street where all experiences have equal value.

How can you create connections with the interns that go beyond the surface? One way to deepen your engagement is by listening to discover shared interests and points of common ground. Often implicit biases hinder our ability to connect. What do you think you know already about the demographics of our interns? What is your evidence? Is it accurate? Are you open to knowing differently? Ask how interns spend their free time, what do they love to do? What are their future dreams? Who inspires them?

How People Change Policy.

What conversations are you having internally at your organization around diversity, equity, and belonging? How can you share some of those insights and experiences to demonstrate to our interns how change happens at an organizational level?

How did the events surrounding Black Lives Matter affect your organization in positive ways? What are your hopes for your organization?

Your Actions and Engagement Matter.

How can you promote your work with Apprentice Learning as an action that contributes to equity and opportunity in your organization? Please share your involvement with Apprentice Learning and our youth within your organization and promote organizations like Apprentice Learning. We firmly believe that building a diverse workforce starts early by giving young people a sense that they are welcomed and their skills are valued in an organization. This is what ignites purpose and career passions.

June 5, 2020

Statement on Racial Justice from Apprentice Learning’s Board and Staff

At Apprentice Learning, experience ignites purpose. Witnessing the uniquely compounded injustices inflicted upon Black people, we write with renewed vigor and humility as we denounce oppression in all of its forms. The Apprentice Learning community grieves over the tragic and senseless deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade. We recognize our responsibility to say their names and speak truth to power. Systemic racism impacts all of us: our staff, students, families, alumni, board and business partners. Our students are receiving mixed messages about both the significance of their lives and their rights to protest inequities. We firmly stand with those who unabashedly profess that Black Lives Matter and who edify our youth to confidently and safely navigate society.

Our core commitment has always been to close the opportunity gap and nurture the dreams of young people from communities impacted by a long history of systemic racism in this country. Apprentice Learning fosters experiences that inspire and enable young people to seize their futures, creating a pipeline where power can be redistributed so that all of society benefits and thrives. Our students and their families, our alumni, and our worksite partners are worthy of this endeavor.

May 27, 2020

Peer Leader Positions Available for Virtual City Summer Internship 2020

This is a position open to girls who have completed City Summer Internship as an intern, will be at least 15 years old by July 1, 2020, and are entering 10^th, 11^th or 12^th grades. We are seeking program alumna who can work alongside Apprentice Learning staff members as an excellent leader, role model for interns, and program assistant.

Program Dates: Wednesday July 8 to Tuesday, August 11, 2020 8: 30 am – 2 pm

Staff Training dates: Thursday-Friday, July 6-7, 2020 9 am – 1 pm

Must be able to attend ALL dates. Salary: $12.75/hr.

Daily Responsibilities:

Host morning Zoom chat times from 8:30-9:00 am
Enter attendance into a master spreadsheet
Help interns get to know each other and develop a positive community
Be a positive role model by fully participating in every activity
Support teachers during Zoom seminars and virtual workplace explorations every week
Come up with thought-provoking questions to pose during each community meeting

Other Projects:

Lead ice breakers at community meetings.
Write up a guide to surviving freshman year of high school
Come up with their own personal story of City Summer Internship- first person, present tense, captivating story, explains what does Apprentice Learning do
Teach how to introduce yourself/handshake prep for a workplace exploration

How to Apply:

Send an email to Letta Neely, Program Director (lneely@apprenticelearning.org or Helen Russell (hrussell@apprenticelearning.org saying why you want to apply and why you would be a great Peer Leader.

Complete the City Summer Internship program application found here.

April 2, 2020

When The Universe Says, “Pivot”, What Does Apprentice Learning Do?

“…..we must create a virtual pathway to obtaining what our kids deserve. It is our obligation to pivot: to learn and teach new steps. We know that many worksites across the city are ready and willing to partner with us in this dance. “

Post by Letta Neely, Apprentice Learning Program Director

COVID-19. We could stop there, except, we can’t. We have too much at stake. The world as we know it has lost its clothing and all is laid bare. Schools, businesses, parks, and malls are closed. With all this, one could presume that the work of Apprentice Learning has no place in this “new world”; that everything is on pause because our Apprentices have no worksites to visit each week; because summer programs may cease to exist during a global pandemic. There are a lot of ways we could hear, “NO!” in the stillness.

However, at Apprentice Learning, we hear obligation and opportunity. Our mission: “Leveraging career explorations to teach skills and nurture dreams” still applies. Our clarion call “to spark passions and interests; to give a sense of purpose to a young person’s present and future” hasn’t changed.

So when the Universe says, “Pivot”, we pivot.

In this new world, we still must provide a patina of normalcy for middle school students. We must continue to believe in and to provide a foundation for the future. In the world of remote work, a number of essential skills remain the same: eye contact, proper greeting, knowing one’s signature strength and primary learning styles. And…there is more to do now, more to do differently.

There is opportunity in this new time to teach and model a newly emerging set of essential skills: remote work habits, oral and written communication skills, presentation efficacy, time management and organization, personal drive, team work, and independence; and lastly, problem-solving mindset and trouble-shooting capacity.

These are skills that our middle school students need in this new world (whether it remains virtual in the long-term or not). Helping middle schoolers develop, maintain and augment these capacities widens their horizon. Becoming fluent with these “emerging essentials” will broaden our Apprentices’ access to their future careers and other dreams. These are skills we can teach. So, we must create a virtual pathway to obtaining what our kids deserve. It is our obligation to pivot; to learn and teach new steps. We know that many Worksites across the city are ready and willing to partner with us in this dance.

January 22, 2020

Host an Apprentice: Together, we educate for the future.

Preparations are underway in schools for Spring apprenticeships. Over six weeks, eighth graders are identifying their strengths and interests, practicing handshakes and eye contact, all while learning about each of the apprenticeship options available to them beginning in the first week of March.

This past fall, most all apprentices (83%) had a perfect attendance rate. This demonstrates how engaged our apprentices were and that they had a sense of responsibility for showing up at their worksites—a valuable work habit!

….when it comes to a job, you always have to be on time and polite in order to do things right. —Angie, Community Servings

By creating these small successes, and linking them to larger goals, apprentices see the important link between career and school success. And we encourage those who did not succeed to try again!

We are enormously grateful to our 70+ worksite partners across the city who invite students into their workplaces and mentor them to succeed at work. Take a look at our list of site partners! Would you consider hosting a young person? Click here to learn more!

January 14, 2020

We’re Hiring: City Summer Internship for Girls

Seeking a talented educator to lead our five-week, paid career internship for rising ninth grade girls.

City Summer Internship (CSI) is a summer internship program for girls entering ninth grade that provides $100 per week stipend. This five-week program introduces young women to opportunities in Boston’s economic engine neighborhoods using a blend of classroom-based career education activities and real-world experiences.

Five weeks of success seminars are paired with workplace explorations where the girls visit a variety of businesses, focusing on fields where women are underrepresented. Weekly preparation for workplace visits includes group discussions on goal setting, values, as well as practicing leadership, self-presentation, communication skills and self-advocacy in the workplace and beyond. The program is taught through a gender lens with an emphasis on unpacking gender and racial stereotypes.

Every facet of the program is designed to help understand and break through barriers that limit young women’s access to career opportunities in Boston.

City Summer Internship Program Dates: July 8 – August 11, 2020

The City Summer Instructor must be committed to girl’s development. The ideal candidate is professional, creative, flexible, able to teach a diverse array of curriculum concepts, and able to communicate with young people and adults. Above all, this person has the ability to spark curiosity, creativity, and confidence in all City Summer Interns. The City Summer Instructor is responsible for implementing the City Summer internship experience for up to 25 interns in a variety of classroom environments. She will support delivery of an intentional youth development program to increase girl’s confidence, positive work habits and professional skills and use classes and weekly explorations to spark interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) and other careers where women are under represented.

Primary Responsibilities:

Plan and co-deliver daily City Summer Internship lessons for up to 15 students per class.
Create a safe, respectful girl-centered learning environment.
Create and review weekly lesson plans with the Program Coordinator prior to delivery.
Create lesson plans that are culturally relevant for a diverse population of students.
Organize classroom to facilitate independence and self-control in students.
Work closely with all staff to track participants’ progress.
Contribute as a team member with other staff and do what is needed to succeed.
Communicate regularly with families.
Plan and support weekly workplace explorations.
Effectively utilize prep time to prepare for activities and explorations.

Skills & Requirements

Experience working with middle school girls required.
Experience working with diverse families and communities required.
Effective verbal and written communication skills necessary to work with young people and their families, staff, and worksite partners.
Ability to manage up to 25 students in a safe, respectful environment.
Basic computer skills
Ability to walk distances of up to one mile, bend, lift, and move up to 20 lbs.
Proof of TB test within the last year
Bilingual Spanish/English preferred.
Must have a cell phone and active phone number

Terms: Employee at will. This a Temporary position. Employment Dates: July 1 – August 13, 2020. Hours: 8 am to 4 pm. Staff Orientation/Site Start Up: July 1,2,6,7 2020. Wrap up: August 12, 2020.

To Apply

Please send your resume and a letter indicating highlighting your strengths and interest in the program to info@apprenticelearning.org. Position will be posted until it is filled.

July 3, 2019

Thank you, Cummings Foundation!

City Summer Interns at NorthStar Asset Management

We are so thrilled to receive a second year of generous funding from The Cummings Foundation. Thank you, Bill and Joyce Cummings, Joel Swets and Joyce Vyriotes and all of the Cummings employees and volunteers who donate time to support the great work of social service and educational organizations across the region. Your support makes our work possible and we are more effective thanks to this very special grant.

May 19, 2019

What is My Learning Zone?

Model for Comfort, Learning and Panic Zones

Before an apprenticeship, we build students’ self-awareness with a variety of learning activities to help them understand their strengths, learning styles, interests and skills and how they can utilize their traits during their apprenticeships. This helps students overcome their nervousness and fear of “messing up.”

The “Comfort Zone Model” describes three zones that are common in any new learning situation: the comfort zone, the challenge zone, and the panic zone. By explaining to the students that learning most often happens in the challenge zone, where one feels uncomfortable, nervous, and challenged, we help to them prepare for the “first day” nervousness they will feel at their apprenticeships.

As students recognize this uncomfortable feeling is a normal part of the learning process, it reminds them to activate the skills they practiced in the classroom to make the most of their workplace experience. Ary, from Jackson/Mann School, describes her experience at Brookline Booksmith as follows:

“Before my apprenticeship began I felt very nervous. I was feeling nerves because I never had work experience before, and I felt it was going to be very challenging and new for me. Now, I feel that my time at Brookline Booksmith is very helpful and fun, the people are very nice, and I learned so much there.”

Encouraged by their mentors during the six weeks of apprenticeship, it becomes easier to move out of their comfort zone to the challenge zone. As a young person gains confidence at the workplace, it is easier to embrace future challenge zones, including being successful in a paying summer job and beyond.

Today you can turn potential into purpose.